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mercygate
Guest
God sometimes attracts a non-Catholic to Religious life (to be a nun, monk or priest) as a way to draw that person into the Church. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit here.
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puzzleannie
Guest
not all nuns, monks and priests are Catholic. The Orthodox have many orders of religious men and women who take vows and live in monastic communities as monks and nuns, and of course they have priests and bishops. Anglicans have religious orders and some branches refer to their ministers as priests. The vocation of nun, monk or priest is a calling from God, and if God calls a person to serve the Catholic Church in that capacity, obviously that person must be or become a Catholic. These are not personal paths to holiness, they are vocations in service of the Church.
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BibleReader
Guest
Catholics are the true Christians – Christians as Christ designed the Church. Our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters laid aside important parts of the message. Though our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters are still Christian, God would not want them teaching the imperfect form they ascribe to. It’s like intentional buying a new car with a flat.
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jimmy
Guest
I know the Orthodox have nuns and monks, but are you sure about the Anglicans?
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Mary3
Guest
I know an Anglican priest who is a Benedictine oblate, if that counts.
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puzzleannie
Guest
yes there are Anglican orders of Benedictine nuns, for instance. apparently Henry Tudor’s confiscation and despoiling of the abbeys and monasteries in an earlier age has not stood in the way of more recent foundations.
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jimmy
Guest
I did not know that, thankyou for correction me.
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Shinobu
Guest
I want to thank everyone who answered this thread. It has been very helpful and informative ^^
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Shinobu
Guest
Well I can’t make any new topics without getting various error messages, so I am just going to use this old thread I made. I’m sorry about this. If a mod/admin could please split this thread, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
First off this might be a long story, so forgive me for the length and I thank you for taking the time to read this and allowing me to vent.
Becoming a nun was an idea that wasn’t new to me. However for a long time I never really considered it as an option. As I got older the idea came to mind more and more until the last few months I have been actively seeking this. I was very excited about it and started learning more about women religious, Catholicism, religious communities and the like. I have been reading the Catechism daily and have never felt so good in all my life. I found a sisterhood community that looked quite nice and so I sent them an email, I waited patiently and today I got a call and I was basically told to work full time for a year and then maybe try again.
I felt so sad, it was like all my hopes were just shattered. I know this sounds silly and all but I was really looking forward to this. I’ve just felt so happy and it was to the point that nothing else in my life satisfied me other then learning more about God and praying and going to church. Now with that call I just feel sad and now I don’t know what to do because nothing else seems like it’s fulfilling. Finding a full-time job for what? I’m not interested in buying anything. I don’t find my video games or watching tv all that interesting anymore, I was fully ready to dedicate my life to God. Now I just feel so lost and don’t know what to do.
I’m sorry if this sounds silly or melodramatic. I just needed to get it off my chest, you know how sometimes talking makes you feel better.
Anyways, thank you for reading.
First off this might be a long story, so forgive me for the length and I thank you for taking the time to read this and allowing me to vent.
Becoming a nun was an idea that wasn’t new to me. However for a long time I never really considered it as an option. As I got older the idea came to mind more and more until the last few months I have been actively seeking this. I was very excited about it and started learning more about women religious, Catholicism, religious communities and the like. I have been reading the Catechism daily and have never felt so good in all my life. I found a sisterhood community that looked quite nice and so I sent them an email, I waited patiently and today I got a call and I was basically told to work full time for a year and then maybe try again.
I felt so sad, it was like all my hopes were just shattered. I know this sounds silly and all but I was really looking forward to this. I’ve just felt so happy and it was to the point that nothing else in my life satisfied me other then learning more about God and praying and going to church. Now with that call I just feel sad and now I don’t know what to do because nothing else seems like it’s fulfilling. Finding a full-time job for what? I’m not interested in buying anything. I don’t find my video games or watching tv all that interesting anymore, I was fully ready to dedicate my life to God. Now I just feel so lost and don’t know what to do.
I’m sorry if this sounds silly or melodramatic. I just needed to get it off my chest, you know how sometimes talking makes you feel better.
Anyways, thank you for reading.
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yochumjy
Guest
Others of us have had the inability to create new topics also, just so you know.
Actually, it is not silly, either you or them. Other orders such as priestly orders will also do this. They want you to truly discern your calling. You don’t have to give up, just try again. Also, you don’t say much about yourself, are you young/old have you ever worked? Are you already Catholic? Is that required by them?
Did they give you any other reasons? Could you ask them for clarification. God’s will won’t be thwarted, the trick is knowing what is God’s will at this particular point in time. Maybe it is for you to wait a year, maybe in the next year you will find a different and better way to commit yourself to God. It can be very hard to know these things. You might want to get a spiritual director, ask your priest (assuming you are Catholic) or join RCIA and continue learning. It sounds like you are on a great start. Don’t let this slow you down, perservere!
John
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Swiss_Guard
Guest
Despite what this may seem to be, it is not an out of hand rejection. Many religious orders will test someone to see if that person truly has a vocation.
You said you are learning about the Catholic faith. I assume from your previous posts you are not Catholic but would like to convert. If you are not Catholic, find an RCIA program at a solid Catholic parish. If you are Catholic, become more involved at your parish.
I have been a novice in two different religious orders and I can say with almost absolute certainty that the religious order you contacted is testing you. Don’t give up.
Many times when people convert or return to the Catholic Church they experience a conversion that just sets them on fire with the Catholic faith. Like all fires, it eventually dies down. That’s when a true vocation comes forth. It’s easy when you’re just so on fire with the Catholic faith to want to become a religious, but when that original fervor is gone will the desire for a vocation still be there? That is a question that can only be answered with time, which again gets back to why they told you to wait a year.
I will keep you in my prayers that God will show you the vocation He has for you and that you follow it with fervor and joy. Pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for she is the mother of vocations. You may also want to pray to a saint who was a nun such as St. Therese of Lesieux, St. Catherine Laboure, St. Teresa of Avila, or St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. They followed God’s call to religious life and will help you in your search.
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Swiss_Guard
Guest
**The schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches was in 1054, almost 500 years before the Protestant Revolution, I mean Reformation. Did I say Revolution?
**
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1ke
Guest
Swiss Guard said:**The schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches was in 1054, almost 500 years before the Protestant Revolution, I mean Reformation. Did I say Revolution?
I was not precise, but I was actually refering to the West… from whence the “Reformers” sprung.
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rayne89
Guest
WRONG That goes against church teaching.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: "For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church." “Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn.”
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Genesis315
Guest
Swiss Guard said:**The schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches was in 1054, almost 500 years before the Protestant Revolution, I mean Reformation. Did I say Revolution?
Didn’t the we get back together again breifly (the Orthodox and Catholics) in like the 1400s?
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Swiss_Guard
Guest
It’s possible we did, I’m not sure. Now I have something to look up.
**I realize that Eastern Orthodox ordinations are valid in the eyes of the Church and that a Catholic may attend Mass at an Eastern Orthodox church and receive the sacraments if there isn’t a way to get to a Catholic Church. A Catholic may not receive any sacraments at a Protestant church because the Church does not recognize their sacraments as valid, with the exception of Baptism, since the Protestant Revolution, I mean Reformation, denied the priesthood. Did I say Revolution again?
**
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Ani_Ibi
Guest
Swiss Guard said:**since the Protestant Revolution, I mean Reformation, denied the priesthood. Did I say Revolution again?
Yes, now that you mention it, it is deeply weird that it’s called the reformation. It was not a reformation. It was a revolution. Nice catch, Swiss.
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Ani_Ibi
Guest
Ha! Thomas Merton went through the same thing before he became a Trappist monk. I think he went for a retreat, but didn’t want to leave and then asked if he could please stay for instruction. They told him something like no, there was no hope for him being a monk. :bigyikes:
So he went off. He eventually came back all plucked up and ready too persuade them to let him in. The doorkeeper greeted him as though he had been expecting him and he was late.
He said they all had been praying for him and were wondering when he would show up to join their community!Now if you really must feel lost, then do. But it doesn’t sound to me as though you are lost.
So in the year that you are waiting on the Lord, do plunge yourself into reading, do plunge yourself into prayer, do plunge yourself into attending Mass and receiving joy which greatly surpasses your ability to contain it. A really good way to start reading (as well as the New Testament) is with the Church Fathers. Be diligent too in cultivating balance and calm confidence in your life. This will hold you in good stead when you take your vows.
And do feel welcome here. Try not to take some of us too seriously. Some of us get all bent out of shape defending the faith. It gets pretty intense sometimes. The Catholic Church is a big place. Lots of room for different folk in different frames of mind at different stages in their lives. But rock-solid stability too. And a family which goes waaaaaaaaaay back.
God bless you.
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CreosMary
Guest
Many friends of mine from (Catholic) Europe are confused when we call ourselves Catholic because where they are from to Be CHRISTIAN means to be CATHOLIC.
The term really only had too be used after the rebellion (reformation) to differentiate in what people believed in; The Church or some heresy! :bounce:
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Ani_Ibi
Guest
Mary: Hhhmm. I gather that Shinobu is a little new to this Catholic thing. ‘Heresy’ although correctly applied to the decisions of the Church during the Reformation is a little charged for a newbie. Paul spoke about milk and meat.
But point taken about the rebellion. Another poster used the term revolution. It sure didn’t look like a reformation to me.
Shinobu, here are some links. I hope you find them sustaining.
Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org/
Daily Prayer and Meditation
http://www.sacredspace.ie/
Vatican Documents
http://www.vatican.va/
Vocations: the women’s page
http://www.vocation.com/content-n4y.htm
Writings of the Church Fathers
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/
Summaries of basic Catholic teachings
http://www.catholic.com/
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